Lattice compartmental insert

ABSTRACT

Lattice compartment insert ( 1 ) having longitudinal crosspieces ( 2 ) and transverse crosspieces ( 3 ), which are inserted into one another in the region of slits ( 4, 5 ) disposed in comb-like manner, and can be pivoted, relative to one another, about pivot axes that run along the slits ( 4, 5 ), whereby the slits ( 4 ) of the longitudinal crosspieces ( 2 ) have nose-shaped locking projections ( 7 ), which engage into correspondingly disposed locking openings on the transverse crosspieces. In order to facilitate insertion of the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces ( 2, 3 ) into one another, without impairing the connection between longitudinal and transverse crosspieces ( 2, 3 ) in the flat, laid-together storage and transport position and in the erected working position, the invention proposes that the locking openings ( 8 ) of the transverse crosspieces ( 3 ) are configured in rectangular manner, and are disposed, in each instance, in such a manner that a side edge of the rectangular locking opening ( 8 ) aligns with the progression of the related pivot axis, in such a manner that in the laid-together, flat state of the lattice compartment insert, for storage and transport purposes, the locking projection ( 7 ) of the longitudinal crosspiece ( 2 ), in each instance, engages behind the wall region of the transverse crosspiece ( 3 ) adjacent to this side edge of the locking opening ( 8 ).

The invention relates to a lattice compartment insert havinglongitudinal crosspieces and transverse crosspieces, which are insertedinto one another by way of slits disposed in comb-like manner on oneside, whereby the lattice compartment insert can be laid together, flat,in the assembled state of the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces,for storage and transport purposes, and can be erected for use, by meansof pivoting the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces about pivot axesthat run along the slits, and whereby

a.) the slits of the longitudinal crosspieces have a nose-shaped lockingprojection on a first side edge, in each instance, which projects into arecess on the opposite second side edge of the slit with its frontregion,b.) the transverse crosspieces are provided with locking openingsthrough which the locking projections of the longitudinal crosspiecesengage when the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces are insertedinto one another, andc.) the locking projections of the longitudinal crosspieces, on the onehand, and the locking openings of the transverse crosspieces, on theother hand, are provided with interacting stops, which prevent thelongitudinal and transverse crosspieces from being pulled apart when thelattice compartment insert is erected, by meeting one another.

Such a lattice compartment insert is known, for example, from U.S. Pat.No. 529,173. An advantage of these lattice compartment inserts consistsin the fact that the locking elements that are used hold thelongitudinal and transverse crosspieces together, after they have beeninserted into one another, not only in the erected position of thelattice compartment insert, but also when the longitudinal andtransverse crosspieces are laid together, flat, for the purpose ofstorage and transport. This property is important, in particular, whenthese lattice compartment inserts are used in machines, i.e. inautomatically operated packaging machines, where it must be ensured thatwhen the lattice compartment inserts are erected by the machine, thecohesion of the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces is not lost. Anydisruption when the lattice compartment inserts are erected causesdown-time and shut-downs of the packaging machine.

In the case of the aforementioned lattice compartment inserts, however,there are still problems resulting from the fact that the lockingopenings in the transverse crosspiece are all configured as narrowslits, into which all of the locking projections must be guided at thesame time when the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces are insertedinto one another. So that this succeeds in reliable manner, the sideedges of the locking slits that lie opposite one another are configuredas elastic tongues that can give way if the locking projections collidewith the edges of the locking slits when the longitudinal and transversecrosspieces are inserted into one another. In this connection, it caneasily happen that the locking projections and/or the elastic tonguesare damaged, and this can particularly lead to disruptions duringsubsequent handling of the lattice compartment insert in packagingmachines.

The same problems in putting together longitudinal and transversecrosspieces occur in connection with a similar lattice compartmentinsert that is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,090. Here, too, thelocking openings in the transverse crosspieces are configured as narrowslits.

Furthermore, lattice compartment inserts are known from U.S. Pat. No.4,358,047 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,548,350, in which both the longitudinalcrosspieces and the transverse crosspieces are provided with lockingprojections and locking openings, in each instance, which engage intoone another when the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces areinserted into one another. In this way, the number of lockingconnections that is to be produced when longitudinal and transversecrosspieces are inserted into one another is doubled, and of course thismakes the matter much more complicated and clearly increases the failurerate.

It is therefore the task of the invention to further develop the latticecompartment inserts of the type stated initially, to the effect thatwhen the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces are inserted into oneanother, the danger of collision in the region of the locking elementsis minimized, without the cohesion of the longitudinal and transversecrosspieces in the storage and transport position or when they are beingerected into the erected position being impaired.

To accomplish this task, the invention proposes, proceeding from thelattice compartment insert of the type stated initially, that thelocking openings of the transverse crosspieces are configured inrectangular manner, and are disposed, in each instance, in such a mannerthat a side edge of the rectangular locking opening aligns with theprogression of the related pivot axis, in such a manner that in thelaid-together, flat state of the lattice compartment insert, for storageand transport purposes, the locking projection of the longitudinalcrosspiece, in each instance, engages behind the wall region of thetransverse crosspiece adjacent to this side edge of the locking opening.

Insertion of the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces into oneanother is extraordinarily facilitated by means of the rectangular shapeof the locking opening and by means of the special arrangement of theside edges of this locking opening in the alignment with the pivot axes,which in turn coincide with the progression of the slits in thelongitudinal and transverse crosspieces. These can specifically beinserted into one another in a 30° pivot position along the slits, withonly slight deformation of the locking projections. Afterwards, thelocking projections project from the side edges of the locking openingsassigned to the pivot axes into the free cross-section of the lockingopenings, without colliding with the edges of the locking opening.Subsequently, the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces are pivoted by150° in the direction towards the storage and transport position, to180°, whereby the locking projections come to lie against the wallregions of the transverse crosspieces from behind, in each instance,which regions follow the side edges of the locking openings that lie inthe alignment of the pivot axes. By means of the contact of the lockingprojections against these wall regions of the transverse crosspieces,secure locking of the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces againstone another is obtained even if the locking projections have only arelatively slight width. A slight width of the locking projections inturn facilitates entry of the locking projections into the lockingopenings when the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces are insertedinto one another. The good locking effect that is described ismaintained when the lattice compartment insert is erected from the 180°storage and transport position into the 90° erected position.

In the following, an exemplary embodiment of the invention will beexplained in greater detail using the drawings. These show:

FIG. 1: a perspective view of a lattice compartment insert according tothe invention, in the erected state;

FIG. 2: the lattice compartment insert shown in FIG. 1, in thelaid-together, flat state, for storage and transport purposes;

FIG. 3: a front view of a partial region of the transverse crosspiece ofthe lattice compartment insert shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, whereby theposition of the nose-shaped locking projections of the longitudinalcrosspieces is shown with broken lines;

FIG. 4: a front view of a partial region of a longitudinal crosspiece ofthe lattice compartment insert shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 1 refers to a lattice compartment insert according tothe invention, which consists of two longitudinal crosspieces 2 and twotransverse crosspieces 3, which are inserted into one another by way ofslits 4, 5 (cf. FIGS. 3 and 4). For storage and transport purposes, thelattice compartment insert 1 can be folded together from the erectedstate shown in FIG. 1 into the flat state shown in FIG. 2, whereby thelongitudinal and transverse crosspieces 2 and 3 can be pivoted aboutpivot axes 100, along which the slits 4, 5 run.

The slits 4 of the longitudinal crosspieces 2 have a nose-shaped lockingprojection 7 on a first side edge 6, in each instance, which projectsinto a recess 10 on the opposite second edge 11 of the slit 4 with itsfront region 9. In this connection, the recess 10 has a width 14 thatapproximately corresponds to the width of the locking projection 7.

The transverse crosspieces 3, in contrast, are provided with rectangularlocking openings 8, through which the locking projections 7 of thelongitudinal crosspieces 2 engage when the longitudinal and transversecrosspieces 2, 3 have been inserted into one another. The position ofthe locking projections 7 that engage through the rectangular lockingopenings 8 is indicated with broken lines in FIG. 3. The face side ofthe nose-shaped locking projection 7 of the longitudinal crosspiece 2,facing the slit 5 of the transverse crosspiece 3, serves as a first stop12, so that in the erected state of the lattice compartment insert 1,the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces 2 and 3 are prevented frombeing pushed apart, by means of the contact of the first stop 12 withthe edge of the locking opening 8 that acts as a second stop 13, facingthe slit 5 of the transverse crosspiece 3.

The rectangular locking opening 8 having the side edges 101 and 102 andthe width 103 is disposed in such a manner that the right side edge 101,in each instance (looking at FIG. 3) lies in the region of the pivotaxis 100. In this way, the result is achieved, on the one hand, that inthe erected state of the lattice compartment insert 1, the nose-shapedlocking projection 7 supports itself laterally on the side edge 101 ofthe locking opening 8, so that a relatively stable connection betweenlongitudinal and transverse crosspieces 2 and 3 is formed. On the otherhand, the nose-shaped locking projection 7 engages behind the wallregion 15 that follows the locking opening 8 on the right side edge 101,when the lattice compartment insert 1 is pivoted into the storage andtransport position, specifically even if the locking projection 7 hasonly a relatively slight width, so that in the case of such a pivotingprocess, secure locking of the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces 2and 3 occurs in the laid-together state (cf. FIG. 2) of the latticecompartment insert 1.

For assembly of the lattice compartment insert according to theinvention, the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces 2 and 3 areinserted into one another at an angle of about 30°, for example, atwhich the nose-shaped locking projections 7 project into the lockingopenings 8 of the transverse crosspieces 3 freely and without collidingwith the edges of the locking openings 8.

Subsequently, the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces 2 and 3 arelaid together in the opposite direction, i.e. pivoted by 150° to 180°(see FIG. 2), so that the nose-shaped locking projections 7 now engagebehind the wall regions 15 of the transverse crosspieces 3, whichregions follow the locking openings 8 (see FIG. 2).

REFERENCE SYMBOL LIST

-   1 lattice compartment insert-   2 longitudinal crosspiece-   3 transverse crosspiece-   4 slit (longitudinal crosspiece)-   5 slit (transverse crosspiece)-   6 first side edge-   7 nose-shaped locking projection-   8 locking opening-   9 front region-   10 recess-   11 second side edge-   12 first stop-   13 second stop-   14 width-   15 wall region-   100 pivot axis-   101 side edge-   102 side edge-   103 width

1. Lattice compartment insert (1) having longitudinal crosspieces (2)and transverse crosspieces (3), which are inserted into one another byway of slits (4, 5) disposed in comb-like manner on one side, wherebythe lattice compartment insert (1) can be laid together, flat, in theassembled state of the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces (2, 3),for storage and transport purposes, and can be erected for use, by meansof pivoting the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces (2, 3) aboutpivot axes (100) that run along the slits (4, 5), and whereby a.) theslits (4) of the longitudinal crosspieces (2) have a nose-shaped lockingprojection (7) on a first side edge (6), in each instance, whichprojects into a first recess (10) on the opposite second side edge (11)of the slit (4) with its front region (9), b.) the transversecrosspieces (3) are provided with locking openings (8) through which thelocking projections (7) of the longitudinal crosspieces (2) engage whenthe longitudinal and transverse crosspieces (2, 3) are inserted into oneanother, and c.) the locking projections (7) of the longitudinalcrosspieces (2), on the one hand, and the locking openings (8) of thetransverse crosspieces (3), on the other hand, are provided withinteracting stops (12, 13), which prevent the longitudinal andtransverse crosspieces (2, 3) from being pushed apart when the latticecompartment insert (1) is erected, by meeting one another, wherein thelocking openings (8) of the transverse crosspieces (3) are configured inrectangular manner, and are disposed, in each instance, in such a mannerthat a side edge (101) of the rectangular locking opening (8) alignswith the progression of the related pivot axis (100), in such a mannerthat in the laid-together, flat state of the lattice compartment insert(1), for storage and transport purposes, the locking projection (7) ofthe longitudinal crosspiece (2), in each instance, engages behind thewall region (15) of the transverse crosspiece (3) adjacent to this sideedge (101) of the locking opening (8).
 2. Lattice compartment insertaccording to claim 1, wherein the locking projections (7) freely projectinto the rectangular locking openings (8) of the transverse crosspiece(3) at an angle of 30°, when the longitudinal and transverse crosspieces(2,3) are inserted into one another and when the longitudinal andtransverse crosspieces (2, 3) are pivoted by 150° into the 180° position(storage and transport position), they come to lie against the wallregions (15) of the transverse crosspiece (3) from behind, which regionsfollow the side edges (101) of the locking openings (8) that lie in thealignment of the pivot axes (100), in each instance.